No. 3 Gonzaga focused on first-round NCAA Tournament game against No. 14 Kennesaw State, but exciting matchups could be in store
Mark Few would strongly advise against it, but if you looked past Gonzaga’s first-round NCAA Tournament opponent, the storylines and matchup possibilities start to get increasingly more compelling.
In the Round of 32, Gonzaga could meet old West Coast Conference rival BYU and star freshman AJ Dybantsa, a candidate for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
The West Region could deliver a Sweet 16 rematch between Gonzaga and Purdue, who met two years ago in Detroit and are scheduled to square off in November to open the 2026-27 season.
One of the best potential matchups of the tournament could arrive in the Elite Eight. That’s where Gonzaga could connect with Arizona and former assistant Tommy Lloyd, who’s taking the Big 12 champions into the Big Dance as a No. 1 seed.
Granted, Few hasn’t won 16 consecutive first-round NCAA Tournament games by looking down the road and the longtime GU coach isn’t planning to start now.
For the next four days, Kennesaw State will be the only team occupying Few’s headspace and scouting reports after the third-seeded Zags (30-3) drew the 14th-seeded Owls (21-13) as a first-round NCAA Tournament opponent in the West Region.
The West Coast Conference champions and Conference USA champions will tip off at 7 p.m. (TBS) on Thursday at the Moda Center in Portland. The CBS broadcast crew covering the game will consist of Brad Nessler, Jared Greenberg and Wally Szczerbiak.
It will be the 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the Zags and second showing for the Owls, who joined the Division I ranks in 2005-06.
Few and Gonzaga players couldn’t identify many connections to Kennesaw State’s roster and coaching staff, but the Zags are vaguely familiar with third-year Owls coach Antoine Pettway, a longtime Alabama assistant who was on Nate Oats’ staff when the Crimson Tide and Zags played nonconference games in 2021 and 2022.
Alabama also happens to be the only common opponent for Gonzaga and Kennesaw State. Roughly three weeks after the Zags beat the Tide 95-85 at the Players Era Festival, the Owls lost to Oats’ team 91-82 in Huntsville, Alabama.
“Just talking to people, (their staff) worked with Nate at Alabama,” Few said. “So expect a very similar style as Alabama. Get up and down, shoot the 3, offensive rebound and apply pressure on the basketball 94 feet. Sounds like they’ve got a lot of different guys that can score on different nights. They’re on a nice run right now.”
Gonzaga and Kennesaw State both managed to win their conference tournaments despite dealing with significant roster adversity in mid-January.
The Zags have navigated the last two months without second-leading Braden Huff, who suffered a left knee injury in practice the day before a Jan. 15 game at Washington State. Few recently told CBS Sports’ Seth Davis the junior forward dislocated his kneecap and confirmed to reporters Sunday that Huff would remain out for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Jalen Warley, meanwhile, is trending in a positive direction after the senior wing returned from a thigh contusion to play twice last week at the NCAA Tournament. Warley, who said he was playing at 70-75% in Las Vegas, indicated on Sunday he was closer to 90% after four additional days of rest.
“(Huff) is not going to be able to play this weekend or anything, but he is jogging and shooting and I think that’s a real positive sign,” Few said. “We’ve just got to get past Kennesaw. Jalen is moving around pretty good.”
The Owls won seven of their last nine games without leading scorer Simeon Cottle, who was one of four active college basketball players charged in January with point shaving. The preseason Conference USA Player of the Year was averaging 20.2 points before being suspended and hasn’t played since Jan. 14.
Sophomore guard RJ Johnson is the current points (14.5 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg) leader for a Kennesaw State team that gets to the free -throw line frequently and is strong on the glass. The Owls rank No. 2 nationally averaging 27.0 free throws per game and No. 15 at 40.3 rebounds per game.
“I know they play very, very fast,” Gonzaga’s Tyon Grant-Foster said. “I think they’re like top 20 in the country (in tempo), so that’s going to be a test for us.”